Angel Puss; The Reef

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Summer is on our doorstep and is already being welcomed by a
rash of new novels from some of Australia's most popular authors.
It is therefore hardly surprising that two of the doyennes of
Australian writing should release books within a month of one
another, particularly given the pace at which both authors
work.

Angel Puss is the 17th in Colleen McCullough's already
extensive career and The Reef is Di Morrissey's 13th book in
as many years. There are many such similarities between the authors
- they appeal to comparable markets and research their work
thoroughly. Both came to writing after earlier careers and both
have done extremely well. With two writers so seemingly alike, it
is tempting to compare books, but in these novels at least, they
could not be more different.

For those anticipating hearty McCullough fare - a meaty epic
spanning continents and generations - Angel Puss may be a
bit of a departure. Set in the 1960s in Sydney's Kings Cross, it is
a ripping read - big in spirit, heart and charm, but with a smaller
than usual cast of characters and a modern feel. Narrated entirely
through Harriet Purcell's diary and driven by the sheer force of
her voice, the book relies heavily on the reader being seduced by
Harriet, a 21-year-old X-ray technician with attitude. It is a
risk, but for this reader it worked. I was beguiled.

Harriet is newly qualified and working for a coveted male wage
when she ditches her respectable boyfriend and leaves home to live
in The House, a rooming establishment run by the inimitable Mrs
Delvecchio Schwartz. There she makes friends with artists,
eccentrics and gays; she learns how to drink three-star brandy, to
fall in love on her terms and the meaning of tarot. She also meets
Mrs Delvecchio Schwartz's four-year-old daughter Flo, the angel
puss of the title. Flo is her mother's beloved, a medium and a
mute. She captures Harriet's heart and is central to the book's
drama.

Angel Puss is a delicious and occasionally tender romp.
It is also a book about living, letting go and passing on. It makes
the point that inheritance can be complicated and sometimes needs
to be taken as much as given. Written with gusto, McCullough has a
ribald sense of humour, a robust use of language and an acutely
developed sense of social justice that underpins the entire
book.

Harriet is a classic heroine, intelligent with a large heart,
unafraid of her own voice or choices. If there was either the time
or inclination to slow down, you might glimpse the slightness to
the plot, but why would you bother? And the author is too canny to
fall into the trap of overloading her structure. Angel Puss
feels like a book that was fun to write. It is certainly fun to
read.

Di Morrissey also writes with a sense of social, or in this case
environmental, conscience. In her new novel, The Reef, the
central issues are the threat to the Great Barrier Reef from
unwitting tourists and unscrupulous developers and how relatively
under-explored our oceans remain. It tries to place the dilemma of
how to protect our natural resources into a readable and
suspenseful context by making it the backdrop to a failing
marriage, potentially revolutionary oceanic studies and a dodgy
scam. It is sadly not particularly convincing.

Jennifer Towse, a university graduate in environmental sciences,
is just considering a PhD when her unpleasant husband Blair is
offered a job as an assistant manager on Branch Island. While a
stint on a tropical island might sound like heaven to most, for
Jennifer it is tantamount to torture. Not only will she have no
job, but she has also avoided the ocean ever since her brother and
father drowned when she was a child. The only advantage to the move
is that she will be far away from her clingy and manipulative
mother.

Branch Island is home to two distinct groups, the tourists and
staff in the resort and the researchers at the scientific research
station. As Jennifer starts to make friends with the researchers
and Blair gets in over his head trying to wangle himself a
corporate promotion, things come to a head, both between them and
between the conflicting agendas of the people using the island.

I admire Morrissey's intentions and her simplicity of style but
this is a book that feels as if it's trying too hard to do too
much. The characters, even the engaging ones, are flimsy and it
lacks real tension, never quite recovering from a slow start.

Without question, the Great Barrier Reef is a beautiful and
valuable natural phenomenon and if this book makes people more
aware of its fragility then all credit to the author. But should
you pack it for when you're lounging by some sunny beach? I
wouldn't say so.

Colleen McCullough will speak at an Age Dymocks book
event at 12.30pm on Wednesday at the Park Hyatt hotel. For further
information, call 9660 8500.